Free Yourself from the Feast or Famine Cycle, Step 3: Get Your Motor Runnin' Before You Head Out on the Highway

We have all heard countless times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many who come to intuitive eating have an aversion to breakfast. They believe that they are simply not hungry in the morning. It is very common for former dieters to have skewed body signals. This comes from years of turning a deaf ear to hunger in the false hope that eating less will equate to more weight being shed. Skipping breakfast is a common tool used by dieters that usually backfires with less than desirable results. See if this pattern looks familiar to you...

You wake in the morning and you feel groggy. In fact, you believe you can still feel the feast of last night sitting in your stomach like a ton of bricks. Eating is the last thing on your mind, so instead, you grab a quick cup of coffee and head out the door. By the time your lunch break comes around at work you are famished and ready to eat the paint off the walls. At this point, you grab whatever is convenient... snacks from the vending machine, fast food, takeout, leftover donuts in the break room. It doesn't make you feel your best but at least it satisfies your hunger.

The rest of the day you find yourself snacking, often reaching for fatty or sweet foods. Your appetite seems insatiable. You also feel stressed and tense. You can't wait to get home and end the day. Dinner is your largest meal. By the looks of the plate before you the food should satisfy you, but it never does. For the rest of the night, you find yourself constantly returning to the refrigerator. You keep rifling through the cupboards looking for something that will give you that feeling of satisfaction, but nothing seems to do the trick. You continue to eat late into the night deriving little real pleasure from the experience. By the time you head off to bed you feel over-stuffed and uncomfortable. When you wake the next morning you will repeat the cycle all over again.

Once you are in this cycle, it can be a challenge to break. Many health professionals will stress the importance of breakfast, but they don't offer any realistic advice for how you can get off this merry-go-round. There also is not much information provided about how this effects your physical body beyond its impact on metabolism. I think this is why so many people equate eating breakfast with diets. In their minds it becomes all entangled in the pursuit of weight loss... a diet tool to stoke metabolism. When taking a broader view however, it is easy to see that taking time to nourish yourself in the morning is actually an act of self-care.

Why is breakfast so important?

When you rise in the morning your stomach is empty. All the food from the day before has been processed. If you ate late into the night before you went to sleep, you may feel sluggish and a little bloated. This more commonly has to do with the types of foods people nosh on when they are late-night eaters... highly processed fare, sweets, and snacks loaded with sodium will create fluid retention in the body, giving you that bogged-down feeling. Ask any late night eater and they will tell you that they are not diving into a bowl of salad, eating a ripe piece of fruit, or chowing down a wholesome meal. The cuisine of the late night eater resembles the contents of a vending machine... tasty... yes, but not nourishing to the body. It is yum-factor food that provides a quick burst of energy. There is a reason for this and as this picture gets painted you will be able to connect the dots and see how this cycle feeds upon itself.

You may feel a heaviness in your body when you rise, but it is not because you still have food sitting in your stomach waiting to be digested. It is more attributable to the quality of foods you ate late last night and the fact that you hit the sack with a full tummy. It takes no longer than 5 hours for your body to digest a meal. This means that when you wake in the morning, your body is in need of nourishment. This is despite the fact that you have difficulty registering that need because you are bloated and run-down. Sleep is designed for restoration. It is the time when your body must rest and repair. When you go to bed with a full stomach you rob your body of this time for regeneration because all the repair energy gets diverted to the task of digestion. The result is a highly-taxing scenario. This leaves you feeling depleted and lacking proper rest. If this is a habitual pattern, chronic fatigue becomes the norm. Burdening your body in this way keeps your stress switch turned on. For future reference, it will be helpful to remember this point. To the body, stress = danger. Quite inadvertently, you are throwing your body into survival mode. In natural response, the bodily systems shut down to conserve energy.

If you wake and skip breakfast, you fuel this stressed state. It's like throwing kerosene on an already raging fire. Your body lowers metabolism to compensate and shifts into fat storage mode. It is the adaptation response and you cannot outwit it. Mother Nature designed it to be fool-proof. Since your metabolism has been put on lock down you find that your hunger remains numbed out. You will have difficulty registering it. This occurs for two reasons.

First of all, the body is brilliant. It will adapt. If fuel is unavailable, even if it is by your own choosing, the body will sense a threat and decrease its energy demands by slowing everything down. This is why many breakfast skippers drag themselves through the day. They are energy deprived. It is common for those who miss the morning feeding to not register appetite until the afternoon. At this point they find themselves in the downward spiral of a blood sugar crisis. This is why the quick grab and go foods seem so appealing at this stage of the cycle. In a very real sense, your body demands instant energy when it has been deprived in this way. The foods that will be most appealing are the ones that provide a quick burst of energy. Sweets often rank high on the list, as do heavily processed foods that are commonly loaded with fat, sugar, and sodium. Fat is a biggie because the human species has depended on this rich fuel source for survival. If the adaptation response has kicked in, your body will gravitate toward foods with the highest energy density. It is a part of the natural biological process.

This becomes like a dog chasing its own tail because of the physiologic effect these foods have on our system. The more sugar and highly-processed foods we eat, the more our body craves. The rest of the day is spent playing catch up trying to soothe what seems an insatiable appetite. It is interesting to note that scientific research has demonstrated that people eat relatively the same amount of food in weight day in and day out. It is a quantity factor. As a result, those who skip meals will find themselves loading food at the end of the day to reach this consistent quantity their bodies are accustomed to. The eating often continues on late into the night. The next day they rise and start the cycle all over again. Taxing our systems with this undue stress keeps us perpetually trapped in a state of feast or famine.

How do we break the cycle?

We free ourselves from this cycle quite simply by breaking the fast. This creates an atmosphere of food security for our bodies, thereby disengaging the adaptation response. Breakfast is our time to fuel up and provide our bodies with the energy needed to meet the demands of the day. If we do not bring attention to tending to this bodily need we set ourselves up for struggle. It will be next to impossible to override the biological urges that will propel us to overeat and store that fuel for future use in the form of adipose tissue, just in case. It is time we befriend our bodies and stop working against them.

Our bodies have natural rhythms. You may have heard the term circadian rhythm. The definition of circadian rhythm is, "A daily rhythmic activity cycle, based on 24-hour intervals, that is exhibited by many organisms." When we disrupt this natural rhythm by letting our self-care slip and ignoring our bodily needs, imbalance is the inevitable result. There is a simple method that can help us reset our internal clock. This facilitates our cycles striking a balance. The end result is that we feel better supported. It isn't a complicated, convoluted approach, but rather a very gentle means to shifting our bodies back into the flow of their natural rhythm. In response, our body rewards us with renewed health and vitality. Quite effortlessly, we find that night-time eating gradually diminishes, binges decrease, and meal choices begin to favor more wholesome foods. Additionally, sleep improves. We rise and shine, feeling more well-rested. We also benefit from a significant reduction in stress levels.

The approach involves gently easing yourself into becoming a breakfast eater. Initially, the desire to eat in the morning may seem completely unappealing. As mentioned earlier, this is understandable considering the current cycle you are locked in. I'm not going to encourage you to gag down breakfast. The goal is not to make you suffer. What I am proposing is a nudging of the body toward a more supportive direction. You may not be immediately hungry when rising. Give yourself a grace period. Allow the space of half an hour after getting out of bed for your hunger to surface. During this period of time, refrain from taking in caffeine. The caffeine in coffee, soda, and tea will blunt your appetite and silence out your hunger cues. This is not ideal. We want to welcome hunger in, not slam a door on it, figuratively shutting it out. If after half an hour has passed you find that you still don't register hunger, drink your nutrition. Pour yourself a glass of 100% fruit or veggie juice. Make yourself a fruit smoothie. Have one of those drinkable yogurts. Whip up a protein or breakfast shake. You could even warm some broth to heat your belly on a cold morning.

This will provide your body with some energy and instant nutrition. Then enjoy your coffee after the bodily need for fuel has been met. You will find that this will encourage your signals to come forward loud and clear. Within a couple of hours, you are going to be hungry. Guarantee yourself access to some nurturing food. For those of you who go to work or school, this may mean being prepared by packing a snack. Make it a well-rounded one that will tide you over until you have the opportunity to break for lunch. Some ideas of well-balanced snacks are...

- A handful of nuts and an apple

- Whole grain crackers spread with natural peanut butter

- A small bag of trail mix

- String cheese with a piece of fruit

Over time, you will find that your body falls into a natural rhythm. You won't crave sweets or highly-processed foods so intensely. Your hunger patterns will become predictable. You will find that your appetite kicks in at relatively the same times every day. Since your hunger will be addressed and nutritional needs met, late-night eating and binging will start to drop off. You will feel a whole lot better. In a relatively brief amount of time, you will wake up in the morning to the sound of your tummy rumbling. You will be a breakfast eater and will surprise yourself when you actually want something substantial to eat to start your day.

I speak from personal experience. I used to be one of those people who believed I wasn't a breakfast eater. For years, I loaded all my food at the end of the day. My food choices were less than stellar in terms of the nurturing they provided my body with. This created many health imbalances for me and spurred on my binging behavior. I never could understand why I felt such a compulsion to eat such large quantities of sweets and fatty foods night after night. It made me completely miserable on every level. I struggled to release this behavior. Becoming a breakfast eater was an important part of my recovery. I used the same approach I have outlined for you.

I was amazed how quickly my morning hunger returned. After a mere week of drinking my nutrition at the start of the day, I found myself waking, ready for breakfast. I have been a breakfast eater ever since. I have shared this approach with a number of people with much the same result. Some have even reported that their morning hunger kicked in after as little as 3 days! This may not seem so monumental to those who are accustomed to eating breakfast, but for those who have always shunned the morning meal it's darn near revolutionary! The effect in every instance has been one of balance. Eating falls into a more naturally supportive rhythm and health... physically, mentally, and emotionally... improves.

This is a very important key that frees us from the feast or famine cycle. In the rare instances that my eating goes haywire, I often find falling back into the pattern of skipping breakfast the source of disruption. Once I get back to my morning meal, balance is restored. I will boldly state that it will be a constant battle to address binging behavior and overeating until this vital step is dialed in.

If you want a different result, you have to be willing to adopt a fresh, new approach. Change is uncomfortable for everyone. We are creatures of habit. Becoming a breakfast eater is a change that can have a powerful result. The approach that has been outlined here is rooted in sensitivity. It is a gentle way to make this shift without being triggered. Get your motor runnin' before you head out on the highway and feel the difference.

Free Yourself from the Feast or Famine Cycle, Step 2: Make Peace with Wholesome Foods

We live in a food environment that encourages a focus on what I like to call easy access foods... foods that can be eaten on the run. We are so pressured by timelines and jam-packed schedules that nourishing our bodies has become a grab and go affair. The act of eating in and of itself is a potent form of self-care. When we put our nourishment on the back burner, we over-stress our bodily systems and we burn out. No one would expect to hop in their car and go for a spin if the tank was empty and the gas light was on. Yet how often in life do we place this same unrealistic demand on our bodies by expecting them to perform without adequate fuel? The constant over-taxing of our bodies and pushing of its limits activates our survival mechanisms. To the body, stress = danger and this activates the feast or famine cycle and subsequent adaptation response.

Self-care is such an important part of this equation. It is a skill that most of us are lacking. Too often our attention is consumed with caring for others, tending to deadlines, and forever pushing the envelope. Somehow, our self-care always seems to fall through the cracks. We can all intellectually relate to the notion that when we care for ourselves we are then better able to show up in life and be there for others. Intellectual knowing and embodiment of truth are two different matters. We have to live it and this can only happen by moving into the realm of action and taking some practical steps by penciling ourselves back in.

Never ignoring our hunger is one very important way that we can care for ourselves and lessen the impact of stress on our bodies, but what we choose to fuel up with is vital too. A common trap that many people fall into on the intuitive eating path is to be led solely by their taste buds. It's easy to go for the yum factor when considering what you would like to eat, but that is viewing the nurturing of your body in a myopic way. Your body's communication does not stop at your mouth. Taste is a component of that communication, but you can't sever this dialect from the rest of the language of your body. Your digestive system, energy levels, mood, and other bodily reactions to the foods you choose to eat also have something worthwhile to contribute to the conversation. If you are not a participant in the dialogue and are merely hijacking the juicy bits, you are not eating intuitively.

Many will embrace intuitive eating as an opportunity to eat vast amounts of what the authors of, "Intuitive Eating" refer to as play foods. I would like to re-frame how we refer to these foods. I think 'play foods' continues to give the impression that these foods are a source of entertainment. I feel that 'pleasure foods' are a more appropriate label. Is this not why we are drawn to the cakes, candy, soda pop, chips and dip, fast food burgers and fries? We relish in the pleasure. Pleasure is also an important part of honoring health and feeling a high level of satisfaction. Feeling satisfied is essential if we are to find balance in eating experiences. However, there are many wholesome foods that provide our bodies with essential nutrients and are pleasurable both to our taste buds and our long term sense of well-being.

There are two categories of foods:

Nurturing Foods - These are foods that nurture our whole selves. They taste delicious, feel good in our bodies, and provide us with the essential building blocks of health and vitality. Examples of nurturing foods are whole foods such as, whole grain bread, pasta, cereal, rice, fruit and 100% fruit juices, veggies, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, meats, tofu, nuts and nut butter, seeds, oils, butter, natural sugars, spices and foods made with whole ingredients.

Pleasure Foods - These foods are all about the pleasure factor. They offer little nutrition but taste yummy so they tend to keep people coming back for more. Examples of pleasure foods are, cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream, soda pop, fried foods, highly processed foods, fast foods, white flour products, sweet cereals, sweetened drinks and refined sugar.

You can be very conscious of honoring your hunger, but if the majority of your food intake are pleasure foods, you will continue to be in the feast or famine cycle because your body will be starved of the nutrition it needs. Those who eat predominantly highly processed foods are triggering their body's survival response quite unwittingly.

Our bodies have certain nutritional demands that must be met and pleasure foods cannot meet this requirement. It is interesting to note that many obese individuals also have nutrient deficiencies. Many Americans are malnourished, despite our escalating obesity rates. It seems ludicrous that malnourishment could exist when we are surrounded by such plenty, but it's a reality. Taking a multi-vitamin/mineral may help, but truth is, dietary supplements are more of a band aid than a solution. In fact, it may be necessary for those nutrients to come into our bodies through the carrier of food for maximum absorption and benefit. Popping a daily multiple cannot make up the deficiency of an eating style that excludes vital nutrients.

Remember that in order for the feast or famine cycle to be activated the body has to feel its survival is threatened in some way. You can eat to sufficiently address your hunger but if the nutrition is not coming in, your body will remain in a depleted and essentially starved state, despite the fact that your tummy is registering very full. It's a catch 22.

It has become evident to me that there is another necessary step that must be taken on the path of intuitive eating and that is to make peace with nurturing foods. It is important to go through the stage of reintroducing pleasure foods in the beginning. It is a key component of coming off the restriction and limitation of diets, but at some point you have to heal your relationship with nurturing foods and realize they are not the enemy, but an ally to feeling your very best.

If we are truly in touch with our bodies and listening to their guidance we will find that we enjoy a balance of foods. Nurturing foods are cast as the star and pleasure foods play supporting roles. Yet too many people get nurturing foods intertwined with 'diet' foods in their minds. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nurturing foods are tasty, ripe, succulent, delicious, vivacious, and deeply satisfying. They nourish us from the inside, out. They feel good in our bodies and help us reach a place of optimum health. There is room for all foods to be represented on our tables. This is not about excluding pleasure foods, but finding that balance where nurturing and pleasure go hand in hand in a state of cooperative equilibrium that leads to wholeness.

Take an honest look in your cupboards and fridge. Do you have nurturing food availability? Many of you have already taken the step to ensure that you have pleasure foods on hand. What about nurturing foods? Do you have access to a variety of nurturing foods when your hunger comes to call? Sit and make a list of all the nurturing foods that you enjoy. Think of all the wholesome foods that satisfy you on every level. The next time you go grocery shopping, bring this list with you and introduce more of these quality foods into your home. If you don't have access to nurturing foods, you will always come up short. You will veer toward the quick fix rather than provide your body with what it truly needs.

You can even make your pleasure foods more nurturing by preparing them yourself using whole food ingredients. This is simply an idea to get you thinking outside the box... literally. What tastes better and gives a higher level of pleasure anyway... cookies out of a box or a batch made in your kitchen with your own two hands? It's something to think about.

When hunger comes calling it is your body asking for nurturing, not pleasure. If you want to free yourself from the feast or famine cycle, address hunger by feeding yourself some nourishing food. If you want to cap off the meal with a little pleasure for deep satisfaction, then have that piece of chocolate or relish the salty crunch of a handful of chips. Address the need for nurturing first. Make that your top priority.

I had an experience recently that shed light on the value of this advice. I was hungry and my first inclination was to grab something sweet. My body was depleted and wanted that quick energy, thus, the sugar craving. In the past, it would have been my knee-jerk reaction to grab some candy or have a slice of cake, but I have been focusing on self-care and knew that this would not address my body's needs. I took a moment and invited awareness in. I asked myself if there was something nurturing I could eat that would satisfy my desire for pleasure by including that sweet taste my mouth was wanting. I decided on a peanut butter and honey sandwich on toasted sprouted whole grain bread with a cold glass of milk. I figured I would enjoy my sandwich first and then if I still wanted dessert I would savor a little treat. I ended up feeling deeply satisfied and nourished by the sandwich. My body's needs were met and I had no desire for dessert. The honey gave me all the pleasure I was seeking.

There have also been times since I started using this approach that I did want to end my meal on a sweet note. What I discovered is that a small taste savored goes a long way. I may enjoy a couple squares of chocolate or a scoop of ice cream. It is the highlight of my meal, not the main course. I tend to flow with what feels good. This approach feels far more balanced while retaining every ounce of pleasure.

I have come to believe that pleasure foods are better enjoyed in absence of hunger... experienced for the sheer pleasure in and of itself. Pleasure foods make a pleasant end to a meal or a yummy treat when you have that hankering for that special something. In this way, I don't hit pleasure food overload. Since I enjoy these foods purely for the experience and not to address hunger, it becomes a pure taste sensation. I find satiation with small amounts. I'm not suggesting that everyone approach pleasure foods the way I have. I'm merely sharing my experience to offer a glimpse of a different perspective.

Experiment with this and see how you feel. Engage a higher level of self-care. When honoring your hunger, consider your body's need for nurturing without denying that pleasure has its place. Maybe it is time that we brought back the tradition of dessert. I know that when I was growing up I always looked forward to that sweet spot in my day. Somehow, the years of dieting and restriction wiped out this tradition. You can have your cake and eat it too. You can also have the vibrant health you seek. Why limit yourself when you can have it all? Nurturing and pleasure can co-exist.

Free Yourself from the Feast or Famine Cycle, Step 1: Never Ignore Hunger

Hunger is a cue from our bodies that should never be ignored. It is an important sign that we are low on fuel and need to fill up with quality nutrition. When we disregard hunger, we activate the onset of the feast or famine cycle and subsequent adaptation response the body relies on for survival. These systems are hardwired into our physiology to ensure the continuing existence of the human species.

Our bodies have brilliant design. Before the industrialization of food, our bodies ability to adapt to limitation by slowing metabolism, switching into fat storage mode, and conserving existing fat stores to later be broken down and used as fuel during lean times, was what ensured our survival. Without this ability to adapt, humans would have perished during the hardship of winter when food was scarce.

The game has changed, but the 'rules' remain the same. We live in an atmosphere of plenty. We have the highest level of food availability than any time in history, yet there are plenty going hungry out of a desire to pursue thinness. There is a distortion that has been perpetuated by the diet industry that you have to eat less in order to release excess weight. This belief shows a complete lack of understanding of how the human body functions. Most who are overweight and obese need to eat more, not less. They need to learn how to consistently respond to their body's need for food when hunger calls. Many who are obese blame their love of food and their overeating for the condition of their bodies. The true culprit is a lack of nourishment.

True... some people do overeat, but even the urge to eat excessively or binge is provoked by not properly responding to hunger cues. Overeating and binging are biological events. It may seem that these behaviors are wrapped up in emotionality, but the truth is far more simple. You may feel emotional when you binge. You may be having a rough day when you overeat, but the basis of this behavior stems from an adaptation response. Your emotions are not provoking this imbalanced reaction. In fact, one of the first places this imbalance develops is in a lack of ability to consistently respond to hunger cues.

This should come as welcome relief because it means that there is a simple solution. For years plus-size people have had this idea embedded in their minds that they are dealing with an emotionally complex issue. Living a super-size existence does have its complexities, but this is far more attributable to social pressure, unrealistic expectations of what constitutes the 'ideal' body type, and in some cases, blatant discrimination. The reality is, diets are at the root of our obesity crisis.

Diet dogma has long preached that we should ignore our hunger if we want to be slim. In fact, you will even hear fame-motivated medical professionals exclaim on glitzy talk shows that it is necessary to experience a certain level of hunger when an individual is trying to lose weight... that this should be anticipated. Then you have that infamous commercial produced by the corporate giant that proclaims, 'Diets don't work, but they do'. Their infamous commercial represents hunger as somewhat of a spoiled child demanding attention. The day-glow orange muppet 'hunger' runs rampant, doing everything in its power to get noticed and fed as a pious dieter turns a deaf ear. We are told that we need to 'conquer hungry' in order to lose weight. This commercial does nothing short of make our natural signal of hunger the enemy. This type of diet propaganda is what is fueling the war people have with their bodies. It is this system of thought that is deepening the division between ourselves and our bodily wisdom. It is the basis of the obesity epidemic... a condition that has grown so prevalent in modern society that it is now deemed, 'globesity' for its worldwide impact.

In a very real way, the body of modern man is reacting as if there is a widespread famine when in reality we live in abundant times, full of plenty. We are inflicting this scarcity consciousness on our bodies and as a result, we are triggering an adaptation response. Our bodies are doing what they are designed to do... survive.

It's not your body's fault. Your body is accurately responding to the stimulus you are providing it. It is also not your fault. You have been subjected to misinformation. There is so much conflicting advice out there that it can be difficult to wade through the BS to arrive at the truth. We were never taught the proper way to care for our bodies. Quite frankly, it isn't in the diet industry's best interest to share this information with you. The truth doesn't make the big wigs the bucks. The truth will set you free but it requires you to step up to the plate and take full responsibility. This is your body. You only get one earth suit. No one else can care for your body, but you. Laying blame will not help you free yourself from the feast or famine merry-go-round. If you want to move forward toward health, you must take full ownership of your body. Your physical welfare is your responsibility.

I believe in keeping things simple. I'm 100% behind the idea of sharing knowledge for the sake of mutual empowerment. What I am going to present to you over the coming weeks is a body owner's manual of sorts. I am going to provide a clear and direct outline of how to care for your body so you can be freed from the feast or famine cycle once and for all. Once you are free, you never have to return to the place of your present imbalance. I can share this information with you, but it will be up to you to apply the knowledge. You are the caretaker of your body, no one else. Likewise, you can choose to take what I share and toss it out the window. All the choices you make about the care of your body are yours alone. The stimulus you provide your body with will determine whether you stay in your present state or move forward toward healing. Own the power of that choice. I think too often people feel helpless and play the victim role when it comes to their health. They falsely believe that they have no power to improve their circumstances. A common question obese individuals ask themselves is, "Why is my body working against me?" I think the more appropriate question is, "Why do we constantly work against our bodies?"

Perhaps we are unwittingly working against the best interests of our bodies. We have been force fed this diet ideology and it is what we have come to know as 'the way things are'. We are going to shake things up a bit and take what you have learned up to this point and turn it upside down. We are instead going to discern, 'the way things are for you'. We are all individuals. Our needs are unique. There is no one size fits all program mapping the road to health. You have a personal health combination that once discovered, will unlock the doorway to vitality for you. The steps I will be outlining will reveal your personal combination. However, it will be up to you to walk through that doorway and claim your new reality. Your future health is entirely in your hands.

Again, many of you are probably thinking, "We already know this stuff. Honoring hunger is one of the primary tenets of intuitive eating. I have no problem eating when I am hungry." Don't be so sure. I mistakenly presumed that I was adept at honoring my hunger. Every time I have been hungry, I have eaten. I should be golden, right? Wrong. I've had this habit of getting distracted by my work. I'll be busily typing away at the computer and I will feel my first hunger call. I tell myself, "You're hungry. Go get something to eat as soon as you finish this writing piece." As I am working away, my hunger continues to build. Up to 20 minutes can pass as I am wrapping up my work. At that point I have set hunger, verging on ravenous. My hunger pangs are in full swing and I need to eat as of yesterday. I quickly prepare myself a meal and voila... hunger addressed... but far from adequately.

If you let your hunger build in this way, it's already too late. You have triggered an entire biochemical reaction in your body that flashes the red light of 'DANGER'. All of those survival adaptation responses go into effect. Once that process starts, it can't be undone. It's like a runaway train. It will have its own momentum that can't be interrupted.

If you frequently let your hunger build like this, you are in a feast or famine cycle. Likewise, if you experience low blood sugar symptoms such as, jitters, wooziness, headache, irritability, cold sweats, or faintness, you are also missing your first hunger cue. Then at the extreme end of the scale you have those who outright disregard hunger. They feel their hunger come on but rationalize that they shouldn't be needing food already. After all, they just ate a couple of hours ago. How could they possibly need more food? In response, they will down some coffee or a soda... something with caffeine to 'take the edge off'. Others go out to puff on a smoke. What they are really doing is blatantly ignoring their hunger.

Here's the deal. Eating is an affair of the body, not the mind. If you are hungry, you need to eat... period. It really doesn't matter what your thought process has to say about it. You can't rationalize to eat or not to eat. If your hunger signal is present, you need to eat, even if you had food a mere hour ago. It makes no difference. Your body does not punch a time-clock. It has needs that must be met. Your body does not speak to you in the language of words. It uses signals such as hunger to communicate its needs. Don't try to rationalize the experience or the communication will be lost in translation. To learn the language of your body you have to feel it out. You can try to think about it until your head explodes and you won't be any closer to understanding the intimate language of your body. Feeling must lead the way.

It's time we understand that what we are dealing with is not a food issue. It is also not a weight issue. What we have on our hands is a self-care issue. Many of us lack this coping skill and in order to heal, we are going to have to refine our ability to provide ourselves with quality care. Take food and the size of your body out of it. It really isn't about any of that. Imagine that you had self-care really dialed in. You would always eat at the first sign of hunger because you would know how important it is to care for your body in this way. You would eat meals that you enjoy but also provide you with vitality and radiant health. You wouldn't be compelled to fill up on play foods that rob you of your energy and sense of well-being. You would want to move your body not because you were trying to squeeze into those smaller jeans, but because it makes you feel good and improves the quality of your life. You would have strong stress-management skills. You would ensure that you get quality sleep every night. In essence, you would create a strong foundation of support for yourself in every area of your life. This is what you do when you care for someone. Don't you try to provide these same things for your loved ones? It's because you care about them. Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that we are also worthy of care and this is the area we need to work on. This is what needs healing. The imbalanced relationship with food, the weight... these are just symptoms. The root cause is lack of self-care.

Honoring your hunger is a very simple, but powerful step toward self-care. It is essential. Deepen your listening skills. Pay attention to that first sign of hunger. It will usually begin with your thoughts turning to food. You will start to think about what sounds good to eat. You may notice your mouth watering ever so slightly as your salivary glands gear up for digestion. If you tune in to your stomach you will feel an empty sensation. This is when you should start to prepare your meal. Don't wait until your hunger pangs are growling like a rabid dog. Don't put off your hunger by tying up one more loose end before you address the true need. You deserve this quality care. The work will be there. It's not going anywhere. Whatever is pressing can wait. Take a timeout to fuel your body. The more consistently you properly address the first sign of hunger, the more safety you create for your body. You lessen the stress and release yourself from the feast or famine cycle.

There will be times that your hunger surfaces at inopportune moments. Maybe you can't take your lunch break at that time. Perhaps you are on the road and the nearest eatery is miles away. This is where your responsibility comes into play. Be prepared. Always have a snack on you, wherever you go. Make it something nourishing that has some staying power. Candy bars are a poor salve for hunger. Don't set yourself up so you are relying on the nearest vending machine. A simple zip-lock bag filled with a handful of nuts and some raisins would do nicely, as would trail mix, cheese and whole grain crackers, or peanut butter and grahams. This is a wiser way to 'take the edge off'. Let the snack tide you over, but as soon as possible, make sure you take the time to nourish yourself with a substantial meal. The snack will abate your appetite but the need for proper fuel is still there. Use your common sense.

This is the way some people can get stuck on the guidelines of intuitive eating. They follow the prescription rigidly thinking that they should only eat when their stomach is grumbling. Not so! A healthy dose of common sense comes in handy when making food decisions. If it has been hours since your last meal and your hunger calls at a time when you only can stop for a quick snack, that doesn't mean the need for a substantial meal has vanished simply because you slapped a band aid on your hunger. That bodily need for true nourishment remains present. Break for that meal as soon as possible. Since you already have a little snack in your system, you will likely only have room for a smaller meal. Your body will tell you when you have had enough. Tune in to your fullness.

While on the subject of fullness I would like to mention that there is no 'right' level of fullness to reach. Many advocate eating to satiation, just shy of fullness. I think that is fine, if that is what works for you. Understand however, that if you are someone who routinely eats to satiation you need to be even more prepared with convenient handy snacks, especially when away from home. Quite simply, you are going to be hungry more often and will likely find that your eating falls in a pattern of consuming a little something 5-6 times a day.

Some people need to experience a higher level of fullness than this. That is perfectly fine and natural too. You have to defer to your body. If you only feel satisfied when very full, so be it! Your appetite will be tided over for a longer period of time than those who tend toward a pattern of eating to satiation. Your natural eating style may more closely resemble the typical three squares a day with the occasional snack. There is nothing in error with this. Every body is different. Some people are grazers and others need more hearty meals.

Additionally, don't work yourself up in a tizzy if you happen to overeat at a meal, or even if you binge. The bodily discomfort is enough drama to deal with. You don't need to pile additional guilt and upset on top of what is already a frustrating situation. Is it really such a big deal anyway? Think about it. If your stomach is stretched to maximum capacity and is over-full, your appetite is going to be held over for a long time. Your body will likely be processing that food for quite awhile. Whereas normally you may burn through a meal in 2-3 hours, a meal overeaten, or a full-blown binge, can take 5-6 hours for your body to process. Maybe even longer in some extreme cases! Your body will balance it out. It is designed to do so. Let yourself off the hook. It isn't the end of the world. In fact, if you retrace the steps of your day leading up to the binge episode you will likely find that at some point, you didn't address that first hunger call. You may have found yourself with your pants down so to speak, unprepared, without a handy snack. There is always a biological basis for overeating. It is a physiologic reaction from bodily needs not being met. You can leave the morality and guilt out of it. Put it behind you and simply wait to eat until your hunger comes calling again. As you become more efficient at providing yourself with quality care by addressing that first sign of hunger you will see binging behavior fall away naturally. Additionally, the more that you can adopt a relaxed attitude about your overeating episodes by letting your body balance it out, the more you will find the need to engage in this behavior diminishing.

From this moment forward, up your self-care by eating at your first sign of hunger. Don't wait until your stomach is growling at you or you trigger a blood sugar episode. Don't try to placate your hunger with coffee, soda, or ciggies. Put whatever you are doing aside for a moment and address your bodily need for nourishment. Be prepared for those times when your hunger may catch you off-guard by carrying a nurturing snack with you. Take this first step toward self-care and you will be making powerful progress in freeing yourself from the feast or famine cycle.

Are You Still in the Feast or Famine Cycle?

Lately, I have been doing a great deal of research. I've been compiling information about the body's survival response and the way this can trigger a biological reaction to hoard fat stores. There are so many intricate layers involved that can trigger our bodies to want to hold onto fat, but if we dig deep and get to the root of the matter, at the core is one common element in every scenario... the feast or famine cycle. If we are in a feast or famine cycle our body will adapt, storing fat during the feasting phase to prepare for the hardship of the famine. It is impossible to release excess fat when you are locked in this cycle. Quite simply, you can't out-wit Mother Nature.

Oh... you can try. You can mistakenly believe that you are more clever. You can try to control what you eat. You can try to be 'healthy', but all the while, you will be activating your body's adaptation response. In fact, I will boldly state that any weight lost through trying is sure to be found. It will be a flash in the pan success. Most likely, any weight released was not fat, but precious metabolically active muscle tissue or water weight. It bears repeating that we are genetically designed to preserve fat stores. Your body's job is to survive. A lot of unnecessary blame gets pinned on the body, but it is sorely misplaced. Our bodies are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They are merely responding to the stimulus we give them. It is our responsibility to create a safe environment where our bodies can feel secure enough to let those fat stores go. If we find ourselves locked in a holding pattern, remaining plateaued, in some way we are creating a threatening atmosphere where our bodies are quite literally fighting for survival. The threat may be self-imposed, but your body can't discern this.

Likewise, if you are a scale watcher who is proudly beaming that you dropped 15 lbs. in the last month, you are also creating a threatening environment for your body. You are currently in the famine cycle, albeit unconsciously, and sooner or later that pendulum will swing and you will find yourself immersed in a feasting phase. The biological drive to eat will be so overwhelming that you will not be able to control it. Your appetite will become a runaway train as all the weight you lost, plus some more for added insurance, finds its way back onto your frame. Don't feel hateful toward your body when this happens. It is not your body's fault. It is only reacting the way nature designed it to respond.

Here at, "The Big Fat Lie", we do not focus on the weight. In fact, we are firm believers in taking a sledgehammer to your scale. Our starting stats were presented in an effort to have our intuitive eating project be comparable to other obesity studies that have been conducted, thereby ensuring the legitimacy of the work we will be doing here. In fact, you will not see the posting of anymore stats until the close of this project in August 2011. However, for the sake of discussion it's important to note that it is impossible to release more than 2 lbs. of fat a week, no matter how much you exercise or what you choose to eat or not eat. This is a scientific fact. If you are releasing more weight than this, you are harming your body and it will backfire.

Most of you are probably thinking right about now, "Well, this doesn't apply to me. I'm an intuitive eater. I eat when I am hungry. I have freedom to eat whatever I like. I don't diet anymore. How could I be trapped in a feast or famine cycle?" The answer is quite simply, very easily. I will be covering this information more in-depth over the coming weeks, but will hint that the feast or famine cycle can be activated by eating around your body size and having a generalized fear of eating. The body's adaptation response can also be triggered by something as simple as stress, or bodily needs going unfulfilled. Again... there are many layers involved and we will cover all of them here in the weeks to come. For now, begin by answering the questions below to determine if you are still on the merry-go-round of the feast or famine cycle...

Let's Play 21 Questions... Are you stuck in the feast or famine cycle?

1. Do you experience hypoglycemia or symptoms of low blood sugar?

2. Do you find that you experience frequent ravenous hunger?

3. Do you crave lots of sweets, or fatty foods?

4. Are you a nighttime eater who often noshes in the evening without truly being physically hungry?

5. Do you find yourself overeating at special occasions such as birthdays, parties, holidays?

6. When you overeat, or eat particular foods, do you feel guilt?

7. Do you experience fear in relation to eating?

8. Do you feel you need some kind of structure around food to feel safe? For example, do you try to keep certain foods out of the house? Do you feel more at ease when you have eating guidelines in place?

9. Do you consume a high quantity of highly processed foods?

10. Are you worried about your weight or the size of your body? Do you body check yourself by frequently looking at your body in the mirror, weighing in, or taking your measurements? When in the presence of others, do you find yourself adjusting your body so you appear slimmer by sucking in your stomach, changing your body positioning, or holding your sweater or handbag in front of your tummy?

11. Are you like Old Mother Hubbard, often finding your cupboards bare?

12. Do you find that you never want breakfast and often don't reach for food until later in the day?

13. Do you frequently think about food? Do you find yourself mentally reviewing the food you ate for the day? Are you constantly thinking about the next meal?

14. Are you often impatient or irritable?

15. Do you exercise in an effort to slim down?

16. Do you feel that your body is working against you?

17. Do you lack trust in yourself and your decisions when it comes to eating experiences?

18. Do you have a high level of stress in your life?

19. Is your sleep suffering?

20. Do you contemplate going on one more diet, cleanse, or otherwise structured eating plan?

21. Do you feel safer in a larger body? Are you scared of what it would be like if you were fit and trim?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you are still in the feast or famine cycle. The more yes responses, the more deeply entrenched in the feast or famine cycle you are. I have come to realize that after three years as an intuitive eater, I am still in the feast or famine cycle. I have made a great deal of headway and have a lot of healing under my belt, but I have more self-recovery to do.

Beginning next week, I will be writing installments here at, "The Big Fat Lie". The approach I will be outlining will enable us to establish a high level of safety for our bodies, freeing us from the feast or famine cycle and subsequent adaptation response, so we can return to a state of balanced health. In the meantime, contemplate what it would feel like to let go completely. What if you released all guidelines, including the guidelines of intuitive eating, and simply ate? How would your eating look if you had no concern about the size of your body? Do you even know? Sit with these questions and see what it opens up in you. We will continue this discussion next week.